HANCEVILLE, Ala. — Wallace State’s men’s and women’s tennis teams each earned Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) titles at the ACCC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Tournaments held at Jasper High School.
The men won their sixth consecutive ACCC championship while the women won their third. Coach Tim Garner was named ACCC Coach of the Year for the sixth time in the men’s division and the third time in the women’s division.
Men’s tennis player Kye Bennett of Adelaide, South Australia, finished in first place in the men’s flight No. 1 singles (6-1, 6-4) and was named the ACCC Men’s Player of the Year.
Other winners in the men’s division were Jace Moody of Lake Charles, La., in No. 4 singles, who defeated Jack Morris of Coastal South 6-0, 6-3 to mark the best score for the men; Pablo Ruben of Bella Italia, Santa Fe, Argentina in No. 5 singles by a score of 6-4, 6-4, and Brett Foster of Lafayette, La., in No. 6 singles at 6-3, 6-0. Ferran Bonastre of Valencia, Spain finished in second place in No. 2 singles, as did Jose Munoz of Santo Domingo, Ecuador in No. 3 singles.
Two Wallace State teams earned first place in doubles play. Ruben and Bonastre won first place in No. 2, with a score of 6-3, 6-1, and Foster and Juan Amor of Ses Salines, Balearis Islands finished first place in No. 3 with a score of 6-4, 7-5. Bennett and Moody earned second place in No. 1 doubles.
For the women, four players returned with first place finishes in their singles matches, with Italia Jones grabbing first place in flight No. 2 singles (6-3, 6-0), followed by Lexie Luders of Traralgon South, Victoria, Australia in No. 2 (6-0, 6-0). Lilly Brown of Guntersville got in a little revenge in No. flight No. 4, defeating Sydney Cohen of Coastal-South 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 after losing to her twice in the regular season. And Anne Van Binsbergen of Rotterdam, Netherlands, won 6-2, 6-3 in flight No. 6. Noelle D’Angelillo or Orlando, Fla., finished second in No. 1 singles and Natalie Vergara of Bogota, Colombia in second place in No. 5 singles.
In doubles play, D’Angelillo and Vergara finished first in No. 2 at 6-1, 6-0, and Jones and Van Binsenbergen finished first in No. 3 at 6-4, 6-0. Brown and Luders came in at second place in No. 1 doubles.
With the conference wins, both teams have punched their tickets to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships. The women will compete May 4-8 at JoAnn Medlock Murphy Tennis Center in Tyler, Texas, while the men will compete May 13-17 at Collin College in Plano, Texas.
The women’s team is 20-9 overall for the season and 12-0 in the conference. The men are 19-9 overall and 10-0 in the conference. Both teams are ranked 13th in the nation in their divisions by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
